Adjustable latch or closure device



Aug. 8, 1933. EBER 1,920,976

ADJUSTABLE LATCH OR CLOSURE DEVICE Filed July 14, 1952 fig. 1

.: HU HM WU! WM Q34 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNE Patented Aug: 8, a H I I g t g g p v 1,320,976?

' ADJUSTABLE LATCH on CLOSURE DEVICE H Georg Eber, ew York, N. Y. Application July- 14, 1932. I Serial No, 622,376 Q- *7 Clairhs.1(Cl. aim-57) This invention relates to devices 'for use in I" Fig. 6 is a sectionaldetaii view of a modified connection With relatively movable body parts form of latching device which I employ, to adjustably retain said parts together, and par- In the drawingI have shown. for the purpose ticularly, the telescoping members or-parts. of of illustrating one use Of my v ntionrtele- 5 suitcases, trunks, boxes and the like; andthe scoping body parts 10 and'l l. The .part .loicon- 60 'qbj t Ofthe i e tionis to 'provide' a latch or stitutes the main container of a suitcase; trunk, closure device consisting of a'tubular casihg'part box or the like, and h p 11' th cover which and a-rod slidably mountedin the casing and is movable toward and from the container to. extending through one end thereof with means pa the articles mounted in the b yparts 10 for retaining the rod againstmovement in one s in otherdevices of this class. v I t direction with-respect to the 'casing, and fur- Su tcases a d similarlteleseoping bodies fo ther to the provision of means, for releasing said atc devices m a c i to y Ve tiDn retaining meansto permit sliding movement of a e emplo ed, two at e front e iacent the the rod b t i t n a further bject endportions'thereof and two at the back also 'ad- 5 being to provideaplurality of latching units of ia theend portions a d pref ab y in trans-' 7 th 1 d fi e tt g 'td t from; d rear verse alinement with the front latching devices. sides oftelescoping body parts wherein the'latchch d v ces cons st of a tubular ingjunits; at "the front, side of" the bodypart casing 1 h vin lat lly x ins'fi n 13 i IQQ 'h p e ge w t locks'for facilitating the attachment of the casing tothe 20 taining the body parts against separation, and b y pa 10 as indicated in 2 0f the drawing; 5 V

further wherein the unitsat the back of said Slidtlbly mounted in'the'casing is a od lihaV- b d p rt m means r forming: hinged .ing longitudinally of onesidethereof spaced teeth or'piv'otal connection between said body parts; 15 forming a rack, .and a spring finger; 16 is "afur therobj ect being to provide alatching de vmounted inithe pper d of the casin 12 and 5 iee-i'ef the class described whichis of very retained in ti be w the bec plate 17 sirnple form and construction-as well as being and the 13019 0941118 Ofthe Casing, Said finger ensimple and positive in operation; permittingthe see the teeth 5 to'hold h rod 14 a ainst installationbf devices of this class infc'onnection ar o twh d rod is. in the po iwith telescoping body parts" at the lowest postion shown i i 1 f i e. The inner sible cost and yet producing strong and 111.. .end of the'rod 14: is 1136110801 and provided witha *rable construction; and with these and 'other obslot Mounted on said end of the d-i a ey Jects in vievv, the invention consists in device i htWing a flat Side 21 Which'rests p t f the 1 a d f0: th purpose sp d which flat back Wall 17 of the casing to prevent said disk jis simple in construction,- eflicient in use, and from t A Spring mountedon which'is constructed as hereinafter described and reduced end of the e a d h s one end nte i 1ai I the slot 19 and the other'en'd, coupled withethe Theinvention is fullydisclosed 'in the followdisk aftertboing P d un n o to asito 5 g specificatiomi which the i a om a impart rotary movementto the'rod when said rod 7 drawing forms e part, in which the separate 15 released as later l r I 95 parts of iny'improv'ementare designated by suit- The rotary m e of t r 14 is co o d f able-reference characters in each of the views, y a transverse pm 23 m cooperates ,Wlth in i pm 2401 the d sk20 as clearly seen in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Pivoted to the upper end of the rod Fig. l is'a transverse sectional view, through zlsas Seen at 25 15a hasp 26, the pivot including i16sc0ping body partsvshowing two of the latcha spring 2'7 which serves to. force the hasp out- 3mg fi s s i I m-P with f h wardly with respect to the body 10 when-the hasp' ruc.lon r0 er} away is released from a lock device 28 of conventional- 2 1s 'fmntvmw' of apart of the Structure form. The yoke-shaped projection 26a of. the shown in F g. 1 with parts n diiierent positions. hasp enters thelock cdsingvthmughan opening J50 3: is a section on the 1ine,33 of Fig. 29 formed therein'tobe engaged by a bolt 30 com is a View showing one of the rear trolled by a key mechanism and also by asliding z latching devicesin extendedposition and showblock 3 1 moving the block 31 to the right as ine th c v d d -p t in n position. seen in Fig. 2, of the drawing, the bolt 30 is re- "Fig.- 5 is a sectio'n'on the line 5-5 of Fig.- 1; leased from the hasp,a11owingsaidhasp to spring outwardly. When, the hasp is released, the spring 10 22 will operate to rotate the rod 14 to move the teeth 15 of the rack out of engagement with the spring 16 and thus permit the free upward move- 7 ment of said rod and the opening of the cover part 11 which may be moved into a fully opened position by releasing thelatch device or devices at the back of the body part 10.

The latch devices at the back of the body part 10 difier tromathose atthe front in eliminating the hasp 26 imdits associate parts. as well .as in eliminating the block and spring 22. The casing 12a of these devices are the same as the casings 12 and include the spring fingers 16a which I operate in connection with the. teeth 15a of the rod 14a. g r

The rod 14a includes a knurled portion v32 ad-' jacent the upper end thereof by means of which said rod may be rotated to move the teeth 15a out of engagement with the spring finger 16a permitting the upward movement of said rod with respectto thecasing as will be understood. vA ball end 33 is provided'at the upper endof the rod 14:: which fits ina hollow block 34 secured to the top cover part 11 to providea pivotal or hinged connection of the cover part with respect to the rod or rods 14a, said block having'slots 35 formed .intwo walls thereof toreceive the shank portion 36 of the rod 14a adjacent the ball 33; permitting v -themovement of the cover part 11 into the position shown in Fig. 4. of the drawing, it being understood at this time that the block'34 may be no'slotted as to vary the opening. movement of the partllif. desired. I

. .It willbe-understood that in packing the body parts 10-and;ll after the articles have been placed .therein,.the part 111 will be moved'in'toa position I above the part 10 and the rod 140, rotated to bring the'sameinto the position shown in Fig. 1 of the .-drawing, and the hasp26 of the rod 14 will be 1 coupled with the lockcasing, in which operation,

the-hasp is rotated .to place the spring 22 under tension as said .hasp is moved fromthe position 'shown'in-Fig.'2 tothat illustrated in Fig. 1.:

Withthe parts thus assembled, the top-body part is forced'downwardly, causing'the rods l4---l4a11tov descend in the casings 12, 12a, the

spring fingers l6, 116d. passing over the teeth 15, 15aioIthe rods untilsuchitime as the articles are fully compacted within the body parts, after which the-downward. pressure is released and the shown at the front and rear of the case as in Fig. 1. In this construction,..I eliminate the necessity of employingthe teeth l5, 15a and the "spring fingers" 16, 16a, and substituted therefor I employ a cam lock plate 37 pivotally supported in connection with, an extension on the back plate l'lb bf-a casing 121) above the top plate 18b of said casing and adapted to earn locklwith a rod 14b movable vertically in thecasing to support said rod against upward movement, atthe same time permitting downward movementof the rod .at any time. Thecam plate .37 is supportedin its operative position by a spring 38 arranged between the" lower face thereof and the top plate 18b of the casing. In order to permit upward -movement of the rod 14b; all that is necessary is to depress the plate 3'? againstthe tension of the spring "38th release said 'plate from the rod.

which said means cooperate, and meansfor ro- In the construction shown, I employ a spring 39 within the casing 121) which operates upon a washer 40 secured to the rod to force said rod upwardly when the plate 37 is depressed, it being understood that the downward movement of the rod 14b will operate to compress the spring 39. With this form of construction it will be apparent that the hasp will be attached to the upper end of the rod on the front latch, whereas the rearlatchwillhave the ball-end or similar means for providing a pivotal or hinged mounting of thetop part 11 in connection with the rod. r

. It will be understood that various other changes in an'd modifications of the construction hereinshown and described may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit of my invention or sacrificing its dvantages.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent; is: g V

-l. A device of the class described comprising atubular. casing,- ajrcd slidably engaging said casing and protruding from one: endthereof, .100 means at said end of the 'casing engaging-the rod forretaining the same againstmovement in one direction with respect to the: casing, said rod having longitudinally spaced: teeth with tatingsaid rod to move said teeth out of engagement with said means, said last named means comprising .a spring mounted on the rod within said casing and a disk on the rod and keyed against rotation in said casing.

I 2. A device of the classdescribed comprising a tubular casing, a rod slidably engaging said casing and protruding fromone ,end thereof, means at. said' end of the casing engaging the rod forretaining the same'againstimov ement in one direction with respect .to the c asing,' said rod having longitudinally spaced teeth with which said means cooperate, means ferrotating saidrod to move saidteeth out of engagement with said means, said last named means compris- 12D ing 'a springmounted on. the rod within said casing and a disk ontherod and keyed against rotation in said casing, and the outer end of said rod including a hasp pivotally supported in connection therewith. g

3. A device of theclass described comprising a tubular casing, arod slidably engaging said casing and protruding from one end thereof,

means at said end of the casing engaging the rod for retaining the same against movement in one direction with respect to the casing, said rod having longitudinally spaced teeth .with which said means cooperate, means for'rot'ating said rod to move said teeth out of engagement with said means, said Y last named means comprising a spring'mounted on the rod within said casing and a disk on the rod and keyed against rotation in said casing, the outer end of said rod including I a hasp pivotally supported in connection therewith, and said hasp serving to support the teeth'140 of the rod in operative engagement with said first named means. I

1. A device of the class described comprising a tubular casing, a rod slidably and rotatably mounted in the casing and projecting from 'one' end thereof, torsional means for rotating said rod in the casing, means on the protruding end of the rod for supportinglthersame against rotation against the action ofsaid torsional means; and means at the end of the casing through which the rod projects engaging said rod when held against rotation for'limiting the sliding move- -1nent of the rod in one direction with respect to said casing and permitting sliding movement of, the rod with respect to the casing in the opposite direction. I

5. A device of the class described comprising a tubular casing, a rod rotatably and slidaloly mountedinthecasing and projecting through one end thereof, a member at said endof the casing cooperating with tooth-like elements arranged longitudinally of'one side of the rod for-retaining the rod against'movement in one direction with respect to the casing, torsional means for rotat- 7 ing said rod to move said tooth-like projections out of engagement'with said member, and means onthe protruding end of therod for supporting the rod with the tooth-like projections in engagement-with said member'against the action of. said torsional means. v p

6. A deviceof the class described comprising a casing, afrod slidably and rotatably mounted in the casing with one end of said rod projecting beyond the casing, said rod having longitudinally spaced coupling elements disposed at one side thereof, a spring finger on said casing engaging said coupling elements to retain the rod against longitudinal movementvwith respect to the casing in one direction, and means whereby said rod may be rotated to disengage the coupling elements from said spring finger to permit the movement of said-rodin the opposite direction.

7. In-containers involving telescoping parts,- a coupling device comprising a tubular casing havingmeansfor attaching the same to one of the container parts, a rodslidably and rotatably mounted in the tubular casing and projecting from :one end thereof, the protruding end of said rod-including means for coupling the same with the other container part and for supporting-the rod against rotation in said casing, said tubular with a, spring actuated finger cooperating with said elements in one position of the rod to retain the rodagainst outward movement with respect to said casing and permitting inward movement of the rod with respect to said casing, and said vrod when detached from the container part being casing and rodvbeing provided one with longitu dinally spaced coupling elements and the other 

